What does “just a matter of” mean?

[teacherjapan]

News mislead us about what the world is really like. They broadcast news that interest us the most, such as conflicts and disasters. Therefore, it is easy to make a mistake of believing that the world we live in is just a matter of one crisis after another.
Source: some entrance exam in Japan

What does “is just a matter of…mean?”
I am familiar with “is just a matter of time or taste.” I’ve never heard this expression used, except for this one.

 

[5jj]

News mislead us about what the world is really like. They broadcast news that interest us the most, such as conflicts and disasters. Therefore, it is easy to make a mistake of believing that the world we live in is just a matter of one crisis after another.

Which entrance exam?

The English in those sentences is very poor.

 

[Tarheel]

It's just a matter of - it's nothing more than (that)

Now reread those sentences with that in mind.

Is that supposed to be an example of English poorly written?

 

[teacherjapan]

Which entrance exam?

The English in those sentences is very poor.

I know the expression “It’s just a matter of” itself. Having said that, “It’s nothing more than one crisis after another” doesn’t seem to make perfect sense to me. Could anyone rephrase it for me in a better way than the original writer of this passage did without changing the original meaning of the sentence?

The entrance exam sometimes contains poorly written passages, which is such a pity.

 

[Tarheel]

I wouldn't use "nothing more" there. Instead, I would say it's one crisis after another. Using "nothing more" seems to downplay the situation.

 

[teacherjapan]

I wouldn't use "nothing more" there. Instead, I would say it's one crisis after another. Using "nothing more" seems to downplay the situation.

I agree. I’ll try to rephrase it myself. We make the mistake of believing that one crisis after another is happening in the world we live in. Is this close to the original in meaning, what the writer is trying to convey?

 

[teechar]

Source: some entrance exam in Japan

That's not enough. You were asked above to cite properly the source of that piece of text. Please do that.

 

[Tarheel]

I agree. I’ll try to rephrase it myself. We make the mistake of believing that one crisis after another is happening in the world we live in. Is this close to the original in meaning, what the writer is trying to convey?

If they had omitted "just" in the original it would have made more sense.

I what think the writer of that piece meant to say is that the news tends to emphasize the things that get people's attention and what we see on the news can give us the impression that all that's happening is one crisis after another. That's what gets the attention of news outlets. In fact, there's a saying in the news business that "If it bleeds it leads," meaning that something sensational is likely to be the lead story.

 

[probus]

Please understand @teacherjapan that we must have the exact source and author of all quoted material because of the very strict copyright laws in the UK where UsingEnglish is based.

 

[teacherjapan]

That's not enough. You were asked above to cite properly the source of that piece of text. Please do that.

What should I do when I can’t name the source because the original text didn’t say anything about the source?

 

[probus]

Tell us where you found the quotation. You said "some entrance exam". Entrance to what program at what institution?

 

[5jj]

Kyoto Senior College entrance exam, for example.

 

[teacherjapan]

Kyoto Senior College entrance exam, for example.

I regret to say that it’s a passage from a very old textbook provided by my cram school, which includes random examinations for college. So it doesn’t say anything about the source.

I didn’t know about a strict copyright policy in the UK. I’ll ask questions about passages whose sources are revealed from now on. What should I do when I’d like to ask whether the sentences I write is correct? Should I just say, “I wrote it myself?”

 

[probus]

Best not to say you wrote it yourself unless that is true. Collectively we've done our best to get the source and if that is unkown we'll just have to live without it.

 

[teacherjapan]

Best not to say you wrote it yourself unless that is true. Collectively we've done our best to get the source and if that is unkown we'll just have to live without it.

Okay. I’ll keep that I mind. Thank you for your advice.

 

[emsr2d2]

I regret to say that it’s a passage from a very old textbook provided by my cram school, which includes random examinations for college. So it doesn’t say anything about the source.

In that case, give us the title and author(s) of that textbook.

 

[teacherjapan]

In that case, give us the title and author(s) of that textbook.

I see. The name of the textbook is “English Reading Exercise Grade C” but doesn’t say who the author is.

 

[emsr2d2]

I see. The name of the textbook is “English Reading Exercise Grade C” but doesn’t say who the author is.

OK. That will have to do for now. In future, please remember that you must post the source in post #1 of any thread. If it's a third party source and you can't get the original source information, you must provide the relevant information regarding the publication/website from which you took the quote.