首页
登录
职称英语
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the En
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the En
游客
2023-11-06
22
管理
问题
In recent years criticisms have been voiced concerning sexist bias in the English language . It has been argued that some of the vocabulary and grammar we use reflects and reinforces a traditional view of the world as one in which men are dominant and women play a secondary role.
Take the word "chairman" , for example. While this can in fact apply to people of both sexes, it appears to some people to be male-oriented as it ends in "man". In the past people taking the role of chairman were exclusively male, and the word was obviously originally a compound of "chair" and "man". Many English speakers, however, have ceased to view this word as a compound and no more feel it to be composed of two units, "chair" and "man", than they perceive "cupboard" as composed of "cup" and "board". In addition the continued use of chairman might be defended on the grounds that the final syllable is pronounced /m’n/ rather than /msn/, just like the final syllable of woman. Despite such considerations other speakers take a contrary view and are sensitive to the components of which it is made up. They clearly perceive it as a title which perpetuates traditional ideas about the place of women in society. For this reason they seek to replace it with neutral terms such as "chairperson" or "chair" , so that it is now possible to ask questions such as; "Who is chair of the committee?"
Other changes advocated include the replacement of words such as "postman" , "fireman" and "policeman" with more clearly neutral terms such as "postal worker", "firefighter" and "police officer". There is, however, continuing controversy about how far such language changes should go. Should changes also be considered to traditional idioms such as "man in the street" and titles such as "Peking Man"? Wrhat about those words where the male meaning of "man" is no longer dominant, such as "manhandle"?
To the extent that changes have taken place, they have done so more in the written language and formal pronouncements than in everyday speech. You would be quite likely to read in the paper that "Postal workers are to receive a pay increase". But "Has the postman been?" would be most likely to be heard in informal conversation. Here "postman" remains firmly entrenched in popular usage.
The lack of a sex-neutral third-person singular in English has also attracted attention. How, for example, do we fill in the blank in the following sentence? "A good teacher always makes sure is well prepared for the lesson. " Traditionally, this would be filled in with "he". The male pronoun in such cases is clearly intended to refer to both sexes. It is still widely used in this way, but some people, especially women, dislike it. They may prefer to add the female pronoun to the male, as in " A good teacher always makes sure he or she is well prepared for the lesson". Some people, however, feel that this looks and sounds awkward. Another solution is to use the plural "they" for the singular; "A good teacher always makes sure they are well prepared for the lesson. " This is often heard in conversation, but is less frequent in formal written English. More cautious souls can avoid the problem altogether by rephrasing in the plural: " Good teachers always make sure they are well prepared for the lesson. "
The extent to which language reflects and shapes attitudes and behaviors is a matter of conjecture. Chinese, Japanese, Persian and Turkish do not make the kinds of sex distinctions English makes through its system of pronouns, but it would be difficult to maintain that males who speak these languages are less sexist than males who speak English! [br] All of the following statements are true EXCEPT that______.
选项
A、Japanese does not make the kinds of sex distinctions English makes through its system of pronouns
B、Japanese are less sexist than males who speak English
C、traditionally we say " A good teacher always makes sure he is well prepared for the lesson."
D、in order to avoid the problem we can use plural form to replace the singular
答案
B
解析
推理题。文章最后一句“…but it would be difficult to maintain that males whospeak these languages are less sexist than males who speak English!”明确指出,日语等代词体系中不存在性别歧视的国家并不能保证该国不存在其他形式的性别歧视,所以[B]是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3164537.html
相关试题推荐
InarecentbookentitledThePsychicLifeofInsects,ProfessorBouviersay
InarecentbookentitledThePsychicLifeofInsects,ProfessorBouviersay
Ireallyappreciate______metogetoutofthetroublesthatIranintorecentl
AnundergraduateofEnglishatauniversity,inarecentlettertotheunive
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
Whatisthebesttitleforthispassage?[originaltext]Recentlyafive-year
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
IrecentlyreadtheOxford【C1】______oftheTolstoy’sWarandPeace,trans
随机试题
ThecuisineofMexicocanbedatedbackto700B.C.,whentheareawaspopul
[originaltext]M:Well,you’veaskedaratherstrangepersonaprettystandardq
[originaltext] Eachyear,morethantwomillionweddingstakeplaceintheUni
评价中心技术主要采用下列哪些方法?()A.实务作业或称套餐式练习 B.自主式
何谓现病史?
企业在生产过程中需要购买原材料,支付各种成本费用,为了满足这种要求,企业持有一定
患者,男,52岁。现症见胸闷心痛,持续难解,动则加重,神疲乏力,气短懒言,心悸自
下列各项中不属于阳明热炽证表现的是A.壮热 B.大汗 C.面赤 D.口渴引
战略风险管理的作用包括()。A.比竞争对手更早采取风险控制措施,可以更为妥善地
(2013年真题)2012年某国国债收入为0.6万亿元,截至该年年末国债累计余额
最新回复
(
0
)