首页
登录
职称英语
In a wealthy neighbourhood in Seoul, anxious parents drag frightened toddler
In a wealthy neighbourhood in Seoul, anxious parents drag frightened toddler
游客
2023-09-14
25
管理
问题
In a wealthy neighbourhood in Seoul, anxious parents drag frightened toddlers into Dr Nam Woo’s office and demand that he operate on the children’s tongues. It is a simple procedure: Just a snip (剪开) on a membrane and the tongue is supposedly longer, more flexible and—some South Koreans believe—better able to pronounce such notorious tongue-teasers for Asians as the English word "rice" so it doesn’t sound like "lice".
"Parents are eager to have their children speak English, and so they want to have them get the operation," said Nam, who performs about 10 procedures a month, almost all on children younger than 5.
In this competitive and education-obsessed society, fluent and unaccented English is the top goal of language study and is pursued with fervor.
It is not unusual for 6-month-old infants to be put in front of the television for as long as five hours a day to watch instruction videos, or for 7-year-olds to be sent out after dinner for English cram courses.
South Korean parents will spend the equivalent of a month’s salary on monthly tuition at English-language kindergartens and up to U.S.$50 an hour for tutors. Between the after-school courses, flashcards, books and videos, English instruction is estimated to be a U.S. $3-billion-a-year industry—and that doesn’t include the thousands of children sent abroad to hone their skills.
In another display of linguistic zeal, the Seoul city government recently set up a hotline for citizens to call if they see English spelling or grammar mistakes on public signs. "Learning English is almost the national religion," said Jonathan Hilts, host of a popular English-language talk sow on South Korea’s Educational Broadcasting System.
The most controversial aspect of the English craze is the tongue surgery, which critics say is unnecessary. No statistics exist in South Korea about the number of such operations, which usually are done in private clinics. However, doctors say the procedure’s popularity has soared with the boom in English instruction. Linguists sneer at the idea that South Koreans’ tongues are too short to speak English properly.
"Since Westerners are taller they might have longer tongues. But this operation lengthens the tongue by only a millimeter or two and that has nothing to with it. The real problem for South Koreans, as for Japanese, is that their own languages make no distinction between Ls and Rs, so their ears cannot detect the difference." [br] It seems that tongue surgery will be most applauded by ______.
选项
A、Korean government officials in charge of the national religion
B、Korean linguists serious about the English zeal
C、Korean surgeons expecting to make a business out of it
D、Korean parents anxious to ensure their children a bright future
答案
D
解析
本文第1、3段就明确地表明anxious Korean parents want to have their children get the operation to speak fluent and unaccented English,但探究其深层次的目的当然是为了竞争美好的将来。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3013405.html
相关试题推荐
[originaltext]Thereisapopularbeliefamongparentsthatschoolsarenol
[originaltext]Thereisapopularbeliefamongparentsthatschoolsarenol
[originaltext]Thereisapopularbeliefamongparentsthatschoolsarenol
Mostparents______(感到难以接受子女们的这种态度).found/feltithardtoaccepttheirchildren’
InawealthyneighbourhoodinSeoul,anxiousparentsdragfrightenedtoddler
InawealthyneighbourhoodinSeoul,anxiousparentsdragfrightenedtoddler
InawealthyneighbourhoodinSeoul,anxiousparentsdragfrightenedtoddler
Ifparentsbringupachildwiththeaimofturningthechildintoa【B1】____
Ifparentsbringupachildwiththeaimofturningthechildintoa【B1】____
Ifparentsbringupachildwiththeaimofturningthechildintoa【B1】____
随机试题
TheInternetTheInternetisalreadythegr
Whyarescientistssurprisedbythefindingsintheirnoisestudy?[br]Whichof
对于那些可能对经济决策产生重大影响的事项,应单独反映,重点说明,体现了会计信息质
调节混凝土凝结时间和硬化功能的外加剂有()。A.减水剂 B.缓凝剂 C.早强
非O1群的霍乱弧菌又称为()A.不典型O1群霍乱弧菌B.O139群霍乱弧菌C.
强调成熟机制对人的发展起决定作用的是()。 A.弗洛伊德B.格塞尔C.皮
(2019年真题)在全国范围内的市场上开展业务的银行可采用()营销组织。A.职
为了能够依据合同,公平合理地处理建设单位与施工单位之间的争议,工程监理单位必须(
关于卷材防水的说法,正确的是( )。A.冷粘法铺贴卷材时,接缝口密封材料封严宽
根据《水法》规定,堤防工程护堤地属于()A.工程效益范围 B.工程管理范
最新回复
(
0
)