Updated 2026-08-28hard

Duolingo English Test Listening Cloze Practice #12 — Hard Level

Free DET (Duolingo English Test) Listening Cloze practice #12 — Hard level. Just DET Listening questions, no grading — solve it yourself and check the answer or model response.

How to practice: This set collects only the Listening Cloze question type from the real DET (Duolingo English Test) — DET Listening questions. No grading, no timer — solve it yourself, then tap each question to reveal the answer or model response.
Listening Cloze
Listen to the talk and fill in the blanks below.

Today I want to examine the philosophical foundations of human rights — specifically, the question of what _____ the claim that all human beings possess rights regardless of any particular society's laws. When we say that practices such as torture or arbitrary detention are violations of human rights, we mean something stronger than that they are merely _____. Kant provided a secular alternative grounded in the capacity for rational self-governance, which he called _____. Contemporary human rights theory has increasingly moved toward 'political' justifications — grounding rights not in _____ facts about human nature but in their function within social and political arrangements.

Show Answers
1) grounds · 2) unpopular · 3) autonomy · 4) metaphysical
Q1 · Comprehension
What distinguishes a human rights claim from a simple statement of cultural disapproval, according to the lecturer?
  1. A. Human rights claims are backed by international law, whereas cultural disapproval is not
  2. B. Human rights claims assert that certain wrongs are wrong independently of any legal system's endorsement
  3. C. Human rights are defined by the majority opinion in democratic societies
  4. D. Cultural disapproval is temporary, whereas human rights claims are permanent
Show Answer
Correct: Human rights claims assert that certain wrongs are wrong independently of any legal system's endorsement
Q2 · Comprehension
What does the lecturer identify as the main difficulty with the natural law framework for grounding human rights?
  1. A. It has never been accepted by any major legal tradition
  2. B. It presupposes metaphysical and theological commitments that are contested and not empirically verifiable
  3. C. It was developed before the concept of individual rights existed
  4. D. It applies only to democratic societies and cannot be universalized
Show Answer
Correct: It presupposes metaphysical and theological commitments that are contested and not empirically verifiable
Q3 · Comprehension
On what basis does Kant ground human rights, according to the lecture?
  1. A. On God-given natural law that all rational beings can access
  2. B. On the capacity for rational self-governance, which he called autonomy
  3. C. On the utilitarian calculation of maximum overall welfare
  4. D. On the social contract established by democratic consent
Show Answer
Correct: On the capacity for rational self-governance, which he called autonomy
Q4 · Comprehension
What is the main criticism of the 'political' approach to human rights described in the final paragraph?
  1. A. It relies too heavily on theological premises that not everyone accepts
  2. B. It makes human rights contingent on social function, which critics say undermines their absolute character
  3. C. It cannot account for the rights of individuals in non-democratic societies
  4. D. It requires a universal government to enforce rights claims across all societies
Show Answer
Correct: It makes human rights contingent on social function, which critics say undermines their absolute character
Q5 · Comprehension
What challenge to the Kantian framework does the lecturer explicitly mention?
  1. A. Kant's framework was developed for a pre-democratic context and cannot apply to modern states
  2. B. The framework may exclude beings who lack full rational capacity, such as infants and severely disabled individuals
  3. C. Kant himself rejected the idea of universal human rights late in his philosophical career
  4. D. The Kantian framework applies only to political rights, not economic or social rights
Show Answer
Correct: The framework may exclude beings who lack full rational capacity, such as infants and severely disabled individuals
Summary
Show Model Summary
The lecturer examines three major philosophical foundations for human rights: natural law theory, which grounds rights in God-given reason but faces contested metaphysical commitments; the Kantian framework, which bases rights in rational autonomy but may struggle to include all human beings; and contemporary political justifications, which ground rights in their social function and avoid metaphysical disputes but risk making rights appear contingent rather than absolute. Each framework illuminates something important about rights while facing its own significant philosophical challenges.

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