首页
登录
职称英语
The English language exists in a condition of everlasting danger, its Ameri
The English language exists in a condition of everlasting danger, its Ameri
游客
2023-11-19
12
管理
问题
The English language exists in a condition of everlasting danger, its American branch most particularly, assaulted as it is from all sides by those who would reduce it to puzzling and obscure jargon, pop-psycho-logical nonsense and vague beautified words, but it is not without its defenders. Ken Smith, author of Junk English, is the leading figure. He begins with a brief and clear declaration:
"Junk English is much more than loose and casual grammar. It is a signal of human weaknesses and cultural license: abandoning the language of the educated yet giving birth to its own self-glorifying words and phrases, favoring appearance over substance, broadness over precision, and loudness above all. it is sometimes innocent, sometimes lazy, sometimes well intended, but most often it is a trick we play on our-selves to make the unremarkable seem important. Its scope has been widened by politicians, business executives, and the PR and advertising industries in their employ, who use it to spread fog before facts they would rather keep hidden. The result is...a world of humbug in which the more we read and hear, the less we know."
Smith is, of course, saying something not true--it is difficult to imagine that Junk English will be noticed, much less read, by those who most could profit from it---but it is an instructive and entertaining instructions and explanation all the same. He tries his hands at all the right places--jargon, clichés, euphemisms, and exaggeration--but he doesn’t swing blindly. "Although jargon often sounds ugly to outsiders, it speeds communication within the community that uses it"--and that "clichés, though popular objects of scorn, are useful when they most compactly express an idea; deliberate avoidance of an appropriate cliché sometimes produces even worse writing."
In other words, Smith may be passionate but he’s also sensible. In a section about "free-for-all verbs," for example, he acknowledges that "There is no law against inventing one’s own verbs" before citing a few funny instances of what happens when "Things get a little out of hand," i.e. "We’re efforting to work this out" or "She tried to guilt him into returning the money." In the end, though, being sensible about language is in essence trying to insist that words mean what they properly mean and are used accordingly. Thus, for example, Smith insists that "dialogue" and "discussion" are not synonyms and should not be used interchangeably; that "complimentary" does not mean "free"; that "experience" does not mean "feel"; that "facilitate" does not mean "ease"; that "generate" does not mean "produce"; that "lifestyle" does not mean "life".
Smith obviously has spent a lot of time making notes about the ways in which we ruin and abuse our language, with results that are impressive in their thoroughness and depressing in their going to far. Occasionally he overlooks the obvious--among euphemisms he mentions "customer care representative" but not "courtesy call," and among the previously mentioned palsy-walsy language he inexplicably overlooks "Your call is important to us"--but then, as he says at the outset, he intended to write a short book and as a result had to leave out many misdeeds. The ones he includes more than do the job. [br] Which of the following best describes Junk English?
选项
A、Overblown.
B、Complicated.
C、Vulgar.
D、Unfashionable.
答案
A
解析
事实细节题。根据文章第二段第二句话可以确定选项A 为正确答案。选项D 只是表层现象,并未涉及垃圾英语的本质特点;选项C 偏离文章意思,并不是“粗俗的,粗鄙的”;根据本段最后两句话可知这种英语很盛行,故排除选项D 。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3200732.html
相关试题推荐
Itisnot______muchthelanguageasthebackgroundthatmakesthebookdifficult
【B1】[br]【B5】A、timesB、eventsC、situationsD、conditionsA固定搭配题。句意为:直到最近,一些国家还把用
Peoplewhowaitforallconditionstobeperfectbeforeacting,______A、neverha
Barryhadanadvantageoverhismother______hecouldspeakEnglish.A、sincetha
TheEnglish-Chinesedictionaryofmedical______compiledbyProfessorSmithwas
Yetthedifferenceintomeandlanguagemuststrikeus,sosoonasitisp
Yetthedifferenceintomeandlanguagemuststrikeus,sosoonasitisp
Yetthedifferenceintomeandlanguagemuststrikeus,sosoonasitisp
Shedidn’tquiteunderstandyou,becausesheknew______English.A、suchlittleB
Primaryschoolteachers’poor【C1】______ofEnglishandmathsisundermin
随机试题
[originaltext]TodayIwillbetalkingabouttheinventionofthecameraand
一、考题回顾
患者,男,21岁。全身紫斑较多,颜色紫红,下肢尤甚,时发时止,头晕目眩,耳鸣,低
( )属于徽派建筑。A.福建土楼 B.陕西窑洞 C.湘西吊脚楼 D.婺源
A.痛痹 B.着痹 C.热痹 D.行痹 E.湿痹关节肿胀,肌肤焮红,灼热
思想史研究在很长时间里面,变得相当陕窄和单一,近来这种状况有一些变化的,其实
取得《物业管理师资格证书》之日起()年内,应提出初始注册申请,物业管理师
某一滑动面为折线形的均质滑坡,某主轴断面和作用力参数如图和表所示,取滑坡推力计算
下列疾病治疗时,如用抗菌药治疗,应首选的药物是 急性牙周脓肿A.四环素 B.
关于民事诉讼执行程序的说法,正确的是()。A.具有执行力的裁判书只能由作出该裁
最新回复
(
0
)