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
2024-09-22
9
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 / m
n/, 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", "fire-fighter" 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"? What 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] To what extent does the language reflect and shape attitudes and behaviors?
选项
A、They are closely related.
B、It is a matter of conjecture.
C、They have nothing to do with each other.
D、Only in English are they closely related.
答案
B
解析
细节题。从文章最后一段首句The extent to which language reflects and shapes attitudes andbehaviors is a matter of conjecture.可以看出,语言在某种程度上反映和塑造讲话者的态度和举止只是一种推测,所以[B]是正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3769649.html
相关试题推荐
AccordingtotheAmericanCollegeHealthAssociation’smostrecentannualna
AccordingtotheAmericanCollegeHealthAssociation’smostrecentannualna
AccordingtotheAmericanCollegeHealthAssociation’smostrecentannualna
AccordingtotheAmericanCollegeHealthAssociation’smostrecentannualna
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
InrecentyearscriticismshavebeenvoicedconcerningsexistbiasintheEn
"Untilrecently,Ithoughtthattherewouldneveragainbeanopportunityto
Sallywasabitshy,buttheteacherfoundherquite______discussingarecentfi
Ourofficehasrecently______toanewcomputersystem.A、alteredB、convertedC、tr
随机试题
His(fail)______tofinishthistaskontimemadehisfaceredforshyness.failu
PassageFour Howcanwegetridofgarb
对鲁迅早期思想有重要影响的是()A.集体主义 B.个性主义 C.无政府主义
POP3协议采用()模式,客户端代理与POP3服务器通过建立(本题)链接来传
女性,50岁。肾移植术后5个月,因蛋白尿,肌酐持续上升1个月入院。行移植肾穿刺活
某投机者2月份时预测股市行情将下跌。于是买入1份4月份到期的标准普尔500股指期
关于类风湿关节炎的相关描述,下列说法不正确的是A、一般无关节外病变损害 B、与
从所给的四个选项中,选择最合适的一个填入问号处,使之呈现一定的规律性: A.如
把握城市公共交通客流变化的规律,应以分析()的客流变化为基础。A.特定时间段
()作为中央银行支配的资金,具有高能货币的性质。A.储蓄存款 B.财政性存款
最新回复
(
0
)